Blue Blazers are all business

Central soccer team ready for state finals.

Central soccer team ready for state finals.

October 26, 2006|MARK BRADFORD Tribune Staff Writer

ELKHART -- A sight-seeing trip it isn't. And a celebration isn't planned for just getting there. The Elkhart Central boys soccer team will be all business for one more weekend as the Blue Blazers compete in the Final Four for the second time in school history and the first time under head coach Ryan Leniski. Action starts at noon at Kuntz Field in Indianapolis when 19-2 Central takes on Fort Wayne Canterbury (14-6-1) while undefeated and top-ranked Carmel (21-0) meets Evansville Memorial (19-1-2) on the other field. Winners return at 8 p.m. for the championship. If the Blazers bring home a team championship trophy, it will be the school's first since the boys track team won in 1993 under head coach Tom Kurth. One thing the Blazers have going for them is attitude. This is an experienced, predominantly senior squad with a confidence that slightly borders on cockiness. "I call it belief," leading scorer Alec Purdie said. "We believe we can win this thing." The Blazers have earned the right to brag, having gone undefeated for six straight seasons in a Northern Indiana Conference that includes two teams, Penn and St. Joseph's, with state championship trophies. The attitude begins on defense, where Kirk Nankivell leads a group that includes goalkeeper Justin Holms as well as defenders Tim Cunningham, Tyler Misura, Shane O'Neill and Zach Eppers. "We feel there is no way we should be scored upon," Nankivell said. "We are really proud of our shutout of Lafayette Harrison last Saturday night in the semistate final. The afternoon game against Chesterton, we allowed one goal and we were a bit disorganized at times because of the wind. But with the experienced players we have, and playing together as much as we have, we play as one big unit." Leniski said that Holms has improved dramatically since the tournament started. "Justin has gotten 100 times better than he played during the regular season," Leniski said. "Of course, he has had to. But he has come up huge when we needed him." The midfield is keyed by Jorge Ramirez and Ruben Garrido, who continue to be the unsung heroes of the team, according to Leniski. "These two guys play both ends of the field for a full 80 minutes, game after game," he said. But the player who makes all the difference is Indiana- bound striker Purdie, who leads the Blazers with 35 goals and 20 assists. "No doubt, Purdie is the guy who stirs the drink for us," Leniski said. "Everybody on the team respects him because he works so hard in both practice and games. You don't sugarcoat him. He understands and loves the game and is just one very special player." Purdie said he has dreamed about playing in the state finals since he was a boy. "I've been trying to get here for four years," he said. "I used to look up to the Central players when I was young and now I'm hoping (youngsters) are looking up at us wanting to do the same thing. This year it has worked out for us. I know my job is to score goals, and if I'm not, then I had better be doing something else to get us goals." Leniski said that he will get scouting information on Canterbury this week but his overall approach to the game will not change. "Our philosophy all year long has been that all we can really care about is us," he said. "So that is what we are going to focus on. I think you can get all wrapped up in figuring out how other teams play and, to be sure, it is a good idea to know their players as much as you can. But to get really detailed about that is overkill many times. "Our idea is to keep things simple. That has driven the way we practice and if we play our game well, we have a very good chance to win this thing."